Member
Mickey Lee Soapworks (MLS) is an artisan that specializes in small batch handmade soap, aftershave & preshave products. Samantha and Eric McDaniels have been occupying the artisan space for a couple of years now and continue to impress with their soap scents and hip style. Both are active participants in the shaving community and are easily accessible and a pleasure to speak with. MLS can be purchased directly from their website or from third party retailers such as Maggard Razors.
As always, I will provide my complete honest review and I have not received any compensation or preferential treatment for my review. This is strictly for the community to use as a tool in making informed decisions. Most importantly, these are my opinions and mine alone. If you do not like them or disagree with them, I respect that and ask that you do the same.
Packaging:
MLS Kraken comes in a opaque polypropylene tub with a solid white screw top lid. The product weight is 3.3 oz which leaves the obligatory room to lather the soap directly from the tub without throwing protolather everywhere. The top label, the only label on the soap, is waterproof and is very elegant. It contains the company name, soap name, ingredients and website address. Packaging score 9.4/10.
Lather:
Kraken is a tallow based soap and performs that way. It loads quickly and effortlessly into the brush and rewards the user with a very rich creamy lather, that is both cushiony and slick. Although the soap has a blueish hue, the lather once whipped up is pure white. The post shave feel is also very nice. I would compare the overall lather performance and ease of use to well known tallow soaps like B&M Latha, Reef Point, Chiseled Face and KnockOut Shave. Lather score of 9.4/10.
Scent:
Kraken is a barbershop scent with the slightest twist. The base scents are very reminiscent of Mike’s Natural Barbershop or Maggard Razors London Barbershop. The twist is a hint of the ocean experience. Faint reminders such as salty air, ozone and ocean kelp can be distinguished throughout the shave. The scent strength is strong both from the tub and once lathered on the face. I am appreciative of barbershop scents but I am not a die hard, so this while nice, is not a must have scent. Scent score 9/10.
Price:
For $12.00 you get 3.3 oz of soap, this is soap comes in at $3.64/oz. The ingredients list is as follows: Ingredients: Stearic Acid, Tallow, Coconut Oil, Aloe Vera Juice, Coconut Milk, Potassium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Castor Oil,Glycerin, Shea Butter, Lanolin, Fragrance, Ultramarine Powder. As a note, the artisan market in general has settled in recently in the $3.50-$4.00/oz price point for tallow based soaps. Coupling the price per ounce and the ingredients list, I give the Price score 9/10.
Bottom Line:
MLS Kraken offers lover’s of the barbershop genre a cool twist on the traditional standard. It is classic enough to use and enjoy when you feel like that old school barbershop smell, but hip enough to use when you want something a little less nostalgic. I do not see myself owning the soap simply because I am not nuts about barbershops scents in general, with the lone exception being my undeniable infatuation with B&M Seville. Given the scores above, I give the MLS Kraken an overall score of 9.2/10.
As always, I will provide my complete honest review and I have not received any compensation or preferential treatment for my review. This is strictly for the community to use as a tool in making informed decisions. Most importantly, these are my opinions and mine alone. If you do not like them or disagree with them, I respect that and ask that you do the same.
Packaging:
MLS Kraken comes in a opaque polypropylene tub with a solid white screw top lid. The product weight is 3.3 oz which leaves the obligatory room to lather the soap directly from the tub without throwing protolather everywhere. The top label, the only label on the soap, is waterproof and is very elegant. It contains the company name, soap name, ingredients and website address. Packaging score 9.4/10.
Lather:
Kraken is a tallow based soap and performs that way. It loads quickly and effortlessly into the brush and rewards the user with a very rich creamy lather, that is both cushiony and slick. Although the soap has a blueish hue, the lather once whipped up is pure white. The post shave feel is also very nice. I would compare the overall lather performance and ease of use to well known tallow soaps like B&M Latha, Reef Point, Chiseled Face and KnockOut Shave. Lather score of 9.4/10.
Scent:
Kraken is a barbershop scent with the slightest twist. The base scents are very reminiscent of Mike’s Natural Barbershop or Maggard Razors London Barbershop. The twist is a hint of the ocean experience. Faint reminders such as salty air, ozone and ocean kelp can be distinguished throughout the shave. The scent strength is strong both from the tub and once lathered on the face. I am appreciative of barbershop scents but I am not a die hard, so this while nice, is not a must have scent. Scent score 9/10.
Price:
For $12.00 you get 3.3 oz of soap, this is soap comes in at $3.64/oz. The ingredients list is as follows: Ingredients: Stearic Acid, Tallow, Coconut Oil, Aloe Vera Juice, Coconut Milk, Potassium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Castor Oil,Glycerin, Shea Butter, Lanolin, Fragrance, Ultramarine Powder. As a note, the artisan market in general has settled in recently in the $3.50-$4.00/oz price point for tallow based soaps. Coupling the price per ounce and the ingredients list, I give the Price score 9/10.
Bottom Line:
MLS Kraken offers lover’s of the barbershop genre a cool twist on the traditional standard. It is classic enough to use and enjoy when you feel like that old school barbershop smell, but hip enough to use when you want something a little less nostalgic. I do not see myself owning the soap simply because I am not nuts about barbershops scents in general, with the lone exception being my undeniable infatuation with B&M Seville. Given the scores above, I give the MLS Kraken an overall score of 9.2/10.
Ruds - Worcester, MA
